Grading Policies

Credit / No Credit (Cr/NC)

The main purpose of the Cr/NC option is to encourage students to broaden their educational experience by enrolling in courses outside their disciplines, without risking their GPA.

The Cr designation is granted for academic performance at the C caliber or above.

A course for which a NC designation is received may be repeated under the Cr/NC option.

Repeated Courses

A grade is issued each time a course is repeated, whether the course is repeatable or non-repeatable as designated in the catalog. For more information on how such grades are factored into the GPA calculated by the Office of Graduate Education, see Required GDGPA.

Incompletes

An incomplete or I grade may be issued to a student who fails to complete a small but important part of a course before the semester grades are issued, if and only if the course instructor believes that the failure is due to reasons beyond the control of the student, and not due to carelessness or procrastination on the part of the student.

Alternative Grade

An incomplete issued for an undergraduate course must be accompanied by an alternative grade. For a graduate course, the issuance of an alternative grade is optional. The alternative grade is computed by averaging the grades received by the student for the completed course work and F grades for the incomplete course work, including the final exam if the student did not take it. For example, if a student has received an A- grade or 3.7 for 90 percent of the course work and did not complete the remaining 10 percent, the alternative grade would be (3.7 x 90%) + (0 x 10%) = 3.33, which is a B+. The alternative grade may be any appropriate letter grade, except W.

Removal of Incompletes

A student who receives an incomplete needs to consult with the course instructor and determine the steps necessary for completing the course work. Deadlines to complete course work and remove the I grade are as follows:Fall semester incompletes — April 1Spring semester or summer session incompletes — November 1.

Upon completion of the course work by the student, the instructor may file the Change of Grades/Removal of Incomplete Form with the appropriate office to remove the I grade. Procedures vary depending on the level of the course and when the course work is made up. The chart below summarizes the differences between an I grade and an I grade issued with an alternative grade.

TYPE OF INCOMPLETE

APPLICABLE COURSE LEVEL

BEFORE I-REMOVAL DEADLINE

AFTER I-REMOVAL DEADLINE

I grade

graduate courses

I grade may be converted to a letter grade. Submit form to Admissions and Records.

I grade remains on the student’s record and the student has one full academic year, following the end of semester in which the I grade was issued, to request a change of grade. Submit form to the Office of Graduate Student Services. I grades that are attached to a letter grade will be automatically converted to the alternative grade, if it is not converted before the deadline.

I grade + alternative grade

undergraduate and graduate courses

I grade may be converted to a letter grade. Submit form to Admissions and Records.

I grade automatically converts to the alternative grade, if not converted before the deadline.

* The letter grade is computed by averaging the grades for all course work completed by the I-removal deadline, and F grades for any incomplete course work.

Withdrawals

Withdrawing from a course after the drop period will result in a W grade for the course. A student who ceases to attend a course without withdrawing officially will receive a final letter grade at the instructor’s discretion.

Change of Grades

Grades may be changed only within one full academic year following the end of the semester in which the course was completed. To change a grade, the course instructor shall complete and submit a Change of Grades Form to the Office of Graduate Student Services. The instructor must state the reason for the grade change on the form and sign the form. “Additional work submitted” is not an acceptable reason for changing a grade.